Five Turbidities: 1) kalpa, 2) views, 3) afflictions, 4) beings, 5) lifespan - pancha-kasaya

1. Turbidity of kalpa (kalpa-kaṣāye), 2. Turbidity of views (dṛṣṭi-kaṣāya),
3. Turbidity of afflictions (kleśa-kaṣāye), 4. Turbidity of beings (sattva-kaṣāye), 5. Turbidity of lifespan (āyuṣ-kaṣāye)

The first is the turbidity of the kalpa. Kalpa is a Sanskrit word that is interpreted as a 'division of time.' How does the kalpa become turbid? At the time of the five evil realms, the evil karma of living beings makes the kalpa turbid.

"The second turbidity is views. In the past, people saw everything as clean. But when the turbid kalpa arrives, people see things as unclean. The turbidity of views is composed of the Five Quick Servants: A view of the body, prejudiced views, views of prohibitions, views of views, and deviant views.

"The view of a body: all living beings are attached to having bodies. They love their bodies. 'I certainly have to take care of myself. I can't let anything happen to me.' They look upon their own bodies as extremely important. They want to wear good clothes, eat good food, live in a good place. They always look upon their bodies as priceless gems. Right, your body is a priceless gem, but if you misuse it, your priceless gem turns into something not even as good as excrement. Why? Because you tend only to its superficial aspects, and don't discover the true gem of you self-nature. All you know is that your body is yours, and you can't put it down. From morning to night you are busy on behalf of your body. That's the view of a body.

"Prejudiced views for one side or the other. If you don't favor emptiness, then you favor existence. In general, it means not being in accord with the Middle Way.

"The third 'quick servant' is the view of prohibitions. Precepts an turn into something bad when they are based on mistaking for a cause something that is not a cause. Such a mistake leads to the cultivation of unbeneficial ascetic practices. I explained earlier how some people imitate the habits of cows or dogs, or sleep on beds of nails, or undertake other unbeneficial ascetic practices. People who do this have a view of prohibitions. 'See me,' they think, 'I hold precepts. l None of you can do what I do; you can't compare to me.' They always have this arrogance in their minds.

"The fourth is the 'view of views', or 'grasping at views'. This is to mistake for an effect something that is not an effect. People with this problem think that they have obtained effects which they have not obtained.

"The fifth is deviant views. People with deviant knowledge and views are always thinking about things in an improper way. These are the Five Quick Servants, which comprise the turbidity of views.

"The third turbidity is the turbidity of the afflictions, which is composed of the Five Slow Servants: greed, hatred, stupidity, arrogance, and doubt. 'Greed' refers to an insatiable greed for pleasant experiences. You are greedy for the things you like. 'Hatred' is the dislike of unpleasant situations. 'Stupidity' means stupid false thoughts. 'Arrogance' refers to pride and self-satisfaction--the feeling that 'I am the greatest' and 'no one is equal to me'. Arrogant people have no courtesy towards others.

"'Doubt' refers to doubt of the genuine Dharma and preference for improper dharmas instead. Such people doubt the true and rely on the false. They doubt the proper Dharma and believe deviant dharmas.

"These are the Five Slow Servants, which comprise the third turbidity, that of afflictions. The existence of these five dull servants creates a lot of affliction.

"The fourth turbidity is that of living beings -- let's not even try to express it. Why? Living beings are just too filthy, too unclean, too impure. You shouldn't think of yourself as being so terrific. Living beings are murky and turbid; there's nothing so good about them. But living beings think of themselves as something really special, despite the fact that hey comprise the fourth kind of turbidity.

1) Chinese Mandarin: wu jwo , wu jwo e shr , 2) Sanskrit: panca-kasaya, 3) Pali: panca-kasaya, 4) Alternate Translations: five turbid realms, evil world of the five turbidities, five periods of turbidity, impurity or chaos of decay.

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: DFS III 425; SPV 32-3; SS III 205-207; SS IV 144-151, 256-257; AS 149-150.

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Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Updated May 10, 2008